The sixth keg
by Bagge
Summary: The sorting hat has a story of Hogwarts' founders to tell in this Potter poem


**The sixth keg**

_The sorting hat has a story of Hogwarts founders to tell in this Potter poem._

_This piece is inspired by - and next to guilty of copyright infringement of - Loke Nyberg's song "Den sjätte tunnan". Characters belong to Rowling._

* * *

_ There were bad times afoot, there was war, strife and angst  
And much suffering for all concerned  
At the darkest of hours four warlords would meet  
And the greatest of them would be crowned_

_Rowena enchantress, clever and cruel  
With the light of fey in her eyes  
Riding a unicorn, mighty and proud  
Where it walked, the ground froze into ice_

_Godric the slayer with blood on his sword  
Riding a fiery steed  
Twenty-two knights with no fear in their hearts  
Followed him, eager for deed_

_Salazar, beast-master, cunning as few  
With a pack of monsters at heel  
With claws, fangs and scales, they were terrible foes  
A menace only too real_

_Helga, the leader, of women and men  
Whenever she talked she was heard  
Her army consisted of twelve-hundred arms  
Each and one of them bound by her word_

_From north and from south, from east and from west  
Did they travel, each of the four  
To the hamlet of Hogwarts, there would they meet  
To by council put end to the war_

_The farmers of Hogwarts roasted an ox  
Cooked a hen and opened a barrel  
Of the finest of meads, thus by food and by drink  
They did hope to avoid any quarrel_

_In the great hall of Hogwarts a table was laid  
A table with sides that were four  
Neither was longer than one of the rest  
That none of them would feel formore_

_"I will rule, by my strength," that was Godric's demand  
And his ironclad fist hit the table  
"My rule will be fair," said Rowena "and wise"  
"Of us four - only I will be able"_

_"The weak will be culled," Salazar said with a hiss  
"And the strong ones by right will be stronger"  
Spoke Helga: "None will be formore or less"  
My rule lasts for a century or longer"_

_Hot words were spoken, hot steel was drawn  
And in hot blood hot spells were cast  
The four of them saw that if nothing was done  
Not a single of them would last_

_Up piped a voice "Good folks, please lay your swords  
And your wands to the side before woe  
There are far better ways to settle your strife  
Let the keg our ruler bestow"_

_It was the youngest lad from the hamlet of Hogwarts  
A peasant of no land or name  
But his words sounded wise and his plan sounded fair  
So the warlords accepted his claim_

_And in came the keg - Yeah, the very first keg  
The first keg in that mighty fine hall  
And the warlords they drank from that bottomless tank  
'til it seemed like the very sea level sank  
An' they drank from the keg, yeah, finished the first keg  
And Godric drank most courageous of all_

_And in came the keg - Yeah in came the second keg  
Second keg in that mighty fine hall  
And the warlords did boast after each and every toast  
'bout their prowess and deeds - enough to embarrass a ghost  
An' they drank from the keg, yeah they finished second keg  
And Salazar drank faster than them all_

_And in came the keg - Yeah in came the third keg  
The third keg in that mighty fine hall  
And the warlords would hug, they would kiss and they would chug  
They were best of friends in all the world until they lost their jug  
An' they drank from the keg, yeah they finished the third keg  
And the friendly Helga drank for them all_

_And in came the keg - Yeah in came the fourth keg  
The fourth keg in the mighty fine hall  
And the warlords made schemes of such grandiose extremes  
That their common rule would last a thousand years - at least in their dreams  
An' they drank from the keg, yeah they finished the fourth keg  
And Rowena drank most grandiose of all_

_For Helga they cheered - hipp hooray  
For Rowena they cheered - hipp hooray  
For Godric they cheered - hipp hooray  
For Salazar they cheered - hipp hooray  
An' for Hogwarts they cheered - hipp hooray  
An' for the young lad they cheered - hipp horray_

_And in came the keg - Yeah in came the fifth keg  
The fifth keg in that mighty fine hall  
They praised the young man and his peace-making plan  
"We are in your debt, young master Peeves, for as long as we can"  
An' they drank from the keg, yeah they finished the fifth keg  
And the founders drank for them all_

_And in came the keg - Yeah in came the sixth keg  
The last keg in that mighty fine hall  
And of the four all you could hear was the snore  
As the four friends slept together in a pile on the floor  
An' who drank from the keg, yeah who finished the last keg?  
Master Peeves drank the last pint of them all_

_You may think that I jest for it's much to digest  
But Master Peeves drank the last pint of them all_

The sorting hat, resting on the small pedestal in the middle of the table surrounded by bottles, pints, jugs and small kegs, finished the song, drawing out the last words. Hagrid and Slughorn sat with their arms around each other and sang the chorus with a rhythm and melody that was all of their own device. "An in cam anotha' keg yeah in camma... eight? keg, anotha' keg in the might'fine hall..." they roared, not at all deferred by the fact that the song had ended. Dumbledore conducted them with his uninjured hand, his wand emitting multi colour sparkles. Flitwick and Burbage cheered and applauded. Trelawney had fallen to the floor, shrieking with laughter and above it all Peeves and Fawkes bobbed, chattering and squawking excitedly.

By the window in the other end of the staff room sat Snape and McGonagall, eating in silence of the Christmas lunch, taking in the spectacle with disapproval. As the song finally ended and Hagrid and Slughorn finally managed to lose their balance and crash to the floor McGonagall caught Snape's eye and raised her small glass in a quiet toast. With a curt nod he returned the gesture.


End file.
